Water Flow in the Sierras at the start of the prospecting season

[63bkpkr]

I've been occupied with other items of life's requirements as of late but took time off this morning to look at the water conditions along one of NorCals (northern california) famous rivers. The result of that inspection provided a graph of the last 120 days of water flow data for that river, see attached picture.

The graph indicates a massive amount of flow in December of 2012, a real gully washer of a rainstorm hit us and then things have been what I would call slow ever since. The graph is showing an upward flow trend as of late possibly indicating snow melt though we have also had some rain in the past three weeks as well as some rising temperatures. My knowledge of this area tells me it is still quite possible for us to have heavy snow in late May but it is also possible for us to have very little extra moisture from now through October. OR, we are in a wait and see time right now as it could go either way. Gosh, I should become a weather man!

Unfortunately for me this years prospecting will be done from my armchair. My shoulder surgery has finally been scheduled for 18March or in just three days. I've been given two prescriptions for pain, one very strong and one milder. Just before the operation begins I will be given a shot they are calling a "block" to deaden the nerves in the shoulder area, it is supposed to last for about two hours after the surgery ends. At that time I will have my choice of which pain med to take. I wish all of you great success this year in your efforts to locate the yellow metal and please post your finds, without giving away the location of the finds, so that I and others may be comforted by your success.

With my best regards...............63bkpkr

 

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[Reed Lukens]

Heck we can get you out there in a wheel chair if you want. You can always tend a sluice from a chair

 

[kuger]

Good luck to ya,my friend,take it easy....kind of weird but my buddy is getting shoulder surgery that same day..............I am next

 

[GrayCloud]

Dang Kuger, That will put you on the bench for at least 6 weeks. Gonna be tuff, just sittin back a watchin everybody else having fun.

 

[oldbrundogg]

Had mine last March, do the pt as best you can especially the stretching . The worst part for me,besides the fact that when I went under it was supposed to be a very minimal surgery until they found out how bad it was torn and it turned into hole different operation. Was the six weeks of lock down on the shoulder no movement. I laid in the front room on a recliner for two weeks sleeping, or passing out for about twenty minutes at a time no way to get comfortable. Watched every episode of Lost on net flix had never seen the show before. Anyway now after a year it's better than it was but not like nothing ever happened to it. Was my first ever surgery and as long as I have a choice my last.
63 just be ready to give it time and I'm sure you'll do great.
OBD

 

[419GottaMinute]

63: I am with reed, we ll just wheel ya on out to the river and you can tend the sluice box

 

[spillercanyon]

Hang in there bkpkr, they do work again. Had mine done in '82 and still works like a charm, better than my other shoulder though that one has issues now. My advice, keep it moving and stretched out whenever the doctor tells you to do so, if not, they get stiff and never get full range of motion back. Mine took almost a full year to get completely back to normal but I think surgery has gotten better since then and you don't get the big caterpillar scar like what I got.

 

[kuger]

Dang Kuger, That will put you on the bench for at least 6 weeks. Gonna be tuff, just sittin back a watchin everybody else having fun.

...............i been puttin it off for 15 years....I am losing my "toughness",though,but.........likely wont be anytime soon....especially if my insurance deductible keeps going up...I dont understand this Obama Care...I had great benefits before,now every six months my deductible goes up,and they pay for less

 

[63bkpkr]

Thanks Everyone for the replies! I DID Laugh at Reeds comment and 419's seconding the motion about the wheel chair. Good to know others have had the surgery and that they've recovered from them. Also thanks for the comments about the PT and stretching, very good input.

At some point I will need the left shoulder worked on for almost the identical problem the right one has and at some other point I will need the good ole left knee worked on again. I hear the third time is the charm so I will find out! My guess is I won't be back into My Canyon till 2015, I will take it a surgery at a time.

Best of luck to everyone!!.................63bkpkr

P.S. - NO WAY I'm letting anyone try to take me down my canyon wall in a wheel chair!! Not even if they go down first!! so there.

 

[spillercanyon]

I put mine off for 10 years or so, hurt it first time skiing as a kid, second time spelunking. For the last couple of years I would wake up 25% of the time with my arm out of place, push it back in and ready to go but I couldn't trust it to stay there in precarious situations. Obama (and his Care) suck!

P.S. - bkpkr, we can winch you down!

 

[63bkpkr]

You guys are bad I mean really bad! Making a guy in a delicate condition LAUGH so hard. What capacity winch?............................................................................63bkpkr

 

[Reed Lukens]

Chicken We'll highline you in then... lol

 

[Oakview2]

Before Obama I had a 401K, now all I have is change....

...............i been puttin it off for 15 years....I am losing my "toughness",though,but.........likely wont be anytime soon....especially if my insurance deductible keeps going up...I dont understand this Obama Care...I had great benefits before,now every six months my deductible goes up,and they pay for less

 

[Cl1983]

Ouch on surgery. I had my shoulder cleaned out, really glad there was no tear in mine. Worse part was the block for me. Hope yours goes well

 

[63bkpkr]

Yes, they've told me I was to have a block. Hope I don't give birth to anything.

Reed, do you recall the scene in "Romancing the Stone" when they go down the mountain side in the mud slide? When they get stopped, his words might just be the ones I would say just as soon as I could talk again. That would be quite a ride. A zip line ride into the canyon, what about 2,000 miles an hour by the time I reached the bottom! Have to put that on my bucket list (at the bottom)!..........................63bkpkr

 

[Cl1983]

I had mine done at the va in San Francisco where when doing the block I was awake and asked to tell them if anything felt weird. I had to ask if the needle in my throat wasn't supposed to feel strange

 

[63bkpkr]

Cl1983, sounds like a fun time. I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!..........63bkpkr


The feeling in my stomach sorta reminds me of zip lining into the canyon but, what a ride.

 

[Cl1983]

I looked at it to make myself feel better as seeing the surgeons performed 4 operations similar to yours the morning I had mine done. My surgeon team probably does 10-15 repairs a week so it's a common surgery and worse case scenario with mine is it needed redone.

I had it done 6 weeks ago and have very little pain now (it's slightly more than pre surgery, but they also file down my collarbone and a bone spur) but the range of motion is great and the pain is getting better daily. I've already been out twice panning this year and had it done at the bd of January...

 

[Reed Lukens]

Not zip line We use to put our dredges in and take them out with a highline. We stretch a cable across the canyon, pull it tight, and then put a 10,000lb pulley on it with guide ropes on both sides. We then jack the 6" dredge up off of the trailer into the air and fly it to the center of the canyon over the river. Then we lower it down a few hundred feet or whatever is left because the anchor cable between the canyon walls is stretching way down with the weight of the dredge on it. So it's more like the movie Medicine Man with the people dropping down into the canyon. So I would hold the rope for ya until you were over the water and then because I do have a sense of humor, I would probably cut it... lol, but hey that would just make it faster and you could dive into the water and then paddle merrily along picking up the nuggets you like most from the ledge that they are sitting on. Did I mention the girls in the grass skirts waiting for you at the bottom yet? haha

 

[Cl1983]

I have seen those lines in the past ad wasn't sure 100% what they were for. Mostly seen on the river over highway 299 heading to redding